Is It Too Late To Consider Buying A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S (CPH:MAERSK B)?

A.P. Møller - Mærsk A/S (CPH:MAERSK B) received a lot of attention from a substantial price movement on the CPSE over the last few months, increasing to kr.14,120 at one point, and dropping to the lows of kr.9,622. Some share price movements can give investors a better opportunity to enter into the stock, and potentially buy at a lower price. A question to answer is whether A.P. Møller - Mærsk's current trading price of kr.9,622 reflective of the actual value of the large-cap? Or is it currently undervalued, providing us with the opportunity to buy? Let’s take a look at A.P. Møller - Mærsk’s outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if there are any catalysts for a price change.

Check out our latest analysis for A.P. Møller - Mærsk

Is A.P. Møller - Mærsk Still Cheap?

According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We’ve used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there’s not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock’s ratio of 5.77x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers’ ratio of 6.56x, which means if you buy A.P. Møller - Mærsk today, you’d be paying a reasonable price for it. And if you believe A.P. Møller - Mærsk should be trading in this range, then there isn’t much room for the share price to grow beyond the levels of other industry peers over the long-term. So, is there another chance to buy low in the future? Given that A.P. Møller - Mærsk’s share is fairly volatile (i.e. its price movements are magnified relative to the rest of the market) this could mean the price can sink lower, giving us an opportunity to buy later on. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for share price volatility.

What does the future of A.P. Møller - Mærsk look like?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you’re looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Though in the case of A.P. Møller - Mærsk, it is expected to deliver a highly negative earnings growth in the next few years, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? MAERSK B seems priced close to industry peers right now, but given the uncertainty from negative returns in the future, this could be the right time to de-risk your portfolio. Is your current exposure to the stock optimal for your total portfolio? And is the opportunity cost of holding a negative-outlook stock too high? Before you make a decision on MAERSK B, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping tabs on MAERSK B for a while, now may not be the most advantageous time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. This means there’s less benefit from mispricing. Furthermore, the negative growth outlook increases the risk of holding the stock. However, there are also other important factors we haven’t considered today, which can help crystallize your views on MAERSK B should the price fluctuate below the industry PE ratio.

In light of this, if you'd like to do more analysis on the company, it's vital to be informed of the risks involved. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for A.P. Møller - Mærsk (of which 1 can't be ignored!) you should know about.

If you are no longer interested in A.P. Møller - Mærsk, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.